The Organic Farm Shop - a social enterprise business.

"Run by Hilary Chester-Master and a fabulous team who really love making people feel welcome," says Rita, "They aim to offer good value for money. The organic farm grows fruit and veg, produces beef and milk, cheese, yogurt and butter. Food in the restaurant is delicious and vegetarian; on Sundays there's a roast of farm-produced meat on offer." The Independent

Shop Opening Hours.

A quick note to say the chicken was absolutely gorgeous and served us through Christmas and beyond. It was so worth the money. Thank you to you and everybody involved.Becky

Just wanted to tell you I loved the shop and the yoghurt is sublime and the maturecheddar is amazing. B

Welcome to the organic farm shop - the perfect shop for people who care about animal welfare and ethical business.

Here you can buy fresh organic food from the farm, organic store cupboard supplies, organic alcohol, organic ice cream, books, magazines, environmentally friendly household products, organic skincare, organic fairly traded food and gifts all under one roof.Have a coffee or herb tea, and maybe some lunch in the 100% organic cafe, browse the shop, go for a woodland walk, discover the farm trail, or just dash in and out to shop, much quicker to get round than the supermarkets!

An alternative way to shop

Enjoy a different shopping experience. The farmshop can be used in different ways.If you have some time, there is so much to look at in the shop, take your time and relax as you shop, look at the cookery books as you go round, checkout the fair trade trolley, the reduced section, the large household and skincare areas, the organic cotton textiles. Or you can shop in a flash. 10 minutes can be enough if you know your way around, to fill a trolley for the week. No long aisles, no reading labels to see if it is organic. Every foodstuff here is certified organic.// (except the honey, from the farm but the standards need 4 miles around the hives....)// So many customers say it is reminiscent of shopping in the old days, seeing what looks or smells good before deciding what is needed, shopping more than once a week if they live near enough.And dont forget to try out our cafe too, whilst you are here. Its reasonably priced and very spacious with lots of magazines to read, a second hand bookstall for amnesty int. a chilled south facing verandah and some low key kids play things on the front terrace.

The Price Perception Issue

PLEASE do not just think we are more expensive than the supermarkets. Come and try us out. Many people tell us that when they start doing a full shop here their weekly bill actually goes DOWN. Less distraction buying things they dont really need, less waste as they can buy one of something, more attention paid to what is cheap at the moment rather than sticking rigidly to a shopping list. If necessary to fit the budget buy less meat, make it more of a treat like in the old days.

Gift buying at the shop

lots of organic, fairtrade, recyled and ethical presents, with quite a bit of cargo thrown in, much of it under ten pounds for easy present buying on the purse and the conscience. Great books, bits and pieces, silvery jewellery on special offer, organic textiles, old embroideries, old and reclaimed boxes, chests, iron lamps, scarves made from recycled silk sarees and much more.

The Shop and the Farm

We are proud to be producing/raising much of the food for sale in the shop from the farm. It is very labour intensive and not good for 'economies of scale' to have many small enterprises but we are working our way towards becoming a really sustainable farm which can feed the local community with all its fresh food. Our aim is to grow everything we need for a full meal. This is not easy. To make a farm pay, most farmers concentrate on one enterprise. We are doing the opposite. When we took over the farm in 1990, it was sheep, dairy (sold off farm) beef and arable. We have introduced and learnt about laying hens, table birds and pigs, vegetables and soft fruit, running a farmshop and cafe and conference/education space. We now have our milk (unhomogenised), yoghurt. cream and soft cheeses for sale in the shop too. These small new enterprises are challenging, labour intensive and financially risky for us. But we believe farms are for feeding the local population, not for growing one thing that is sent all over the country or the world, often benefiting the middleman more than the producer.